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Day 4

Wednesday, May 21, 2025

              We saw the Wapiti Pack today!  After 3 years that these wolves have eluded us.  We left the cabin at 6:37 a.m. and reached the turnout in Hayden Valley that has the best view of their den site around 8:47; not bad timing.  There they were, four wolves traveling left to right in the flats on the west side of Hayden Valley.  High on a hill near the den forest sat three other wolves.  The wolves were chasing an elk who ran off and frightened a grizzly sow with two yearling cubs.  The grizzly sow rose up on her hind legs while the cow elk ran with her head held high, then stopped, staring down a black wolf who took off with the rest of his pack.  We lost them for a few minutes in the deep sage, but soon found them again, climbing the hills between snow patches.  A few wolves played with each other on the snow, wrestling, then rolling and sliding in the snow.  Such great fun to watch. 

            The Wapiti wolves are gray and black and two-toned (gray and black), but the alpha female, a descendant of the Canyon and Hayden wolves, is almost pure white.  She stands out as she climbs the hills toward their den site.  Now we have a good idea of where the den site is.  We watched for almost 1-1/2 hours.  I think of how I saw her mother, the first Wapiti alpha female, her grandmother, a Canyon wolf, and her great-grandmother, the alpha female of the Hayden Pack, and it stuns me.  Makes me feel grateful to know these wolves.  Also descendants of the Mollie Pack, they are large and healthy looking.  Now, with the Mollie Pack in Lamar Valley, the Wapiti Pack has a lot of territory to themselves. 

            We headed south to Yellowstone Lake looking for bears.  When we reached Mary Bay, a grizzly boar was walking at the base of the hills behind bison grazing between thermals.  He was headed west, so we headed on to Mary Bay where a big boar grizzly was digging in the snow.  I later learned from a ranger this boar is Snow’s “boyfriend.  Snow and her cubs were on the hillside between Mary and Sedge Bays foraging in the grass between deadfall.  The cubs are 2-1/2 years old now and Snow has begun courting, so these youngsters may be on their own soon.  They were very entertaining, wrestling with each other as they played in the snow. 

            Canyon and Hayden Valley and Lake seemed like a different world.  Last night’s snowfall has transformed this part of the park into winter; trees and fields dusted with snow.  It was beautiful.  It snowed and rained throughout the day, the temperature not rising above 37º in the southern end of the Park.  Traveling from Hayden to Norris, we looked for the Obsidian bear as we turned north.  She has two two-year-old cubs.  We found the three bears at Obsidian Creek, the sow foraging with one cub; the other cub in the trees.  They all looked very healthy and ignored the crowd.  Continuing on to Mammoth, a beautiful fox was hunting near Indian Creek campsite.  The tips of its ears were black, and it had long black stockings.  Stunning.  We checked on the great horned owl nest near Albright Center and found an adult proudly perched on a branch above an owlet sitting in the nest.  The owlet was just a fuzzy mound of light gray feathers and appeared almost as large as its parent.    

            Driving through Little America, we checked on the Junction Butte den briefly where a black wolf adult came out of the den followed by five black pups.  Then we continued toward Silver Gate and stopped to take photos of “Tripod,” the coyote that limps.  He seems to be doing well and I heard he has his own family.  Passing Round Prairie, a moose grazed on the hillside and at Soda Butte picnic area, a black bear foraged on the slopes across the creek.  A full day, a good day, especially seeing the Wapitis. 

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